The President's Vision for Space Exploration calls for a returned human presence on the Moon, followed by human missions to Mars. The astronauts on these missions will require a more robust and flexible spacesuit than ...

Planetary hoppers-vehicles which travel over the surface as opposed to on it-offer significant advantages over existing rovers. Above all, they are able to travel quickly and can overcome terrain obstacles such as boulders ...

(cont.) fuel burn results below 3000 ft. For emissions, the emissions indices were the most influential uncertainties for the variance in model outputs. By employing the model, this thesis examined three policy options for ...

In daily life, animals including humans make a wide repertoire of limb movements effortlessly without consciously thinking about joint trajectories or muscle contractions. These movements are the outcome of a series of ...

Formation of deposit in the diesel injector nozzle affects the injection behavior and hinders performance. Under running condition, deposit precursors are washed away by the ensuing injection. However, during the cool down ...

This thesis presents the modeling and design of two major types of micro Rankine-cycle-based machines: a single-Rankine-based power system and a waste-heat-driven cooler. As part of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology ...

Growing interest in air-launched rockets as a method for lofting satellites into orbit motivates the need to investigate the unique challenges that air launch presents. This thesis explores how uncertainties in an air-launched ...

Given advanced technology that relieves the human operator of low-level tasking and the future vision for network-centric operations, operator supervisory control of Unmanned Vehicle (UV) teams is likely to be a focal point ...

Hall thrusters and other types of electric propulsion have become a tempting alternative to traditional chemical propulsion systems for in-space applications due to the high specific impulses (Isp) they provide. Large Isp ...